Port of Corpus Christi CEO Sean Strawbridge to resign

Editor's note: This story was updated after its initial publication to correct the date of Strawbridge's last day. While Strawbridge initially said his last day would be June 2, Port Chairman Charles W. Zahn Jr. later said Strawbridge's last day would actually be May 31.

Port of Corpus Christi CEO Sean Strawbridge, who helmed the port through a period of considerable growth but faced rising criticism due to his handling of intergovernmental relationships in the region, will step down from his position, he announced Tuesday.

The announcement comes after a heated meeting where Strawbridge, at points, publicly sparred with the board's newest commissioner, Diane Gonzalez. Afterward, the seven-member port commission approved the terms of a separation in a 6-1 vote after meeting in closed session for more than two hours.

Strawbridge's last day will be May 31.

The terms of the separation agreement were not immediately available. The commissioners did not discuss the terms during the meeting.

"Irrespective of the outcome of today's meeting, it has been a true honor to work with … most of you, to work with this staff, to work with our customers and to be a fabric of this community," Strawbridge told commissioners during the meeting before they went into closed session to discuss the matter.

After his remarks, Strawbridge received a standing ovation from attendees in the room. All the commissioners except for Gonzalez and Wes Hoskins stood up. After the vote to approve the terms, he thanked all of the port commissioners except Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, who has been a frequent critic of Strawbridge, said she voted in opposition because she disagreed with the terms of the separation agreement. She declined to provide more information, saying she was barred from speaking about items discussed in executive session.

"This will be a new and transformational era for the port," Gonzalez told the Caller-Times.

Port Chairman Charles W. Zahn Jr. was not available for comment Tuesday.

Hailing from Florida, Strawbridge, 57, first came to Corpus Christi in 2015 to be the port's chief operations officer, a key position that was vacant at the time. In 2018, the port commission promoted him to chief executive officer to replace the port's retiring executive director, John LaRue.

Last fall, the American Association of Port Authorities elected Strawbridge to serve as chairman of its board of directors. Whether his resignation will affect his standing in the two-year role was unclear Tuesday. Strawbridge told the Caller-Times he hopes to remain in the position.

Spending accusations

Strawbridge's resignation comes as Gonzalez has accused the chief executive of "exuberant spending," including on travel, personal and party expenses.

"The fact is that we have spending that has been out of control," Gonzalez said during the meeting. "We need to immediately do something to address the situation."

Dig deeper: Disclosure of Port of Corpus Christi CEO's employment contract debated

Strawbridge, who suggested the accusations could be part of a political "witch hunt" against him, denied Gonzalez's assertions.

"Over my 30-plus year career as a globally recognized industry professional, I have never engaged in unethical behavior of misuse of funds nor ever accused of such," Strawbridge said during the meeting.

The accusations did not result in his resignation; rather, he has been weighing the prospect of leaving "for some time," he said.

At least two audits are underway at the port: one of the port's planning and development fund, which Gonzalez has said is misused, and another of the port staff's travel expenses incurred during business operations.

Earlier this year, at the direction of the port's audit committee, the port hired an accounting firm to perform an estimated 300-hour forensic audit of the senior leadership team’s expense reports, Kent Britton, the port's chief financial officer, said in a statement.

The audit is scheduled to take place between the months of May and July and will cover the expense reports for 2022. The firm will review the port's current travel policy and make recommendations that could be adopted by the port, Britton said.

Strawbridge, in an interview with the Caller-Times, said he was committed to paying back any expenses determined by the auditors to be improper, if any.

Britton said the port's regular auditors performed an audit of a sample of the senior leadership expense reports and found "only issues with the timing of submission on a small number of reports."

Earlier this month, the Caller-Times requested copies of previous and current iterations of the port's travel and expense policies under the Texas Public Information Act. Those materials had not been provided as of Wednesday morning.

Last year, a Caller-Times review of Strawbridge's employment contracts found port commissioners had raised the executive's base salary more than 85% since his promotion. Depending on bonuses, Strawbridge's annual salary was likely more than three-quarters of $1 million — ranking him among the nation's highest-paid seaport executives.

Milestones

During Strawbridge's tenure, the port has risen to become the third-largest U.S. port in terms of total tonnage and the largest in terms of total revenue tonnage. The growth was juiced, in part, by the lifting of the U.S. crude oil export ban in 2015, when he arrived in South Texas.

The port also pushed forward a number of large projects, including the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project. Though authorized by Congress in 2007, the multimillion-dollar effort only earned federal funding in 2017 after the port restarted talks to make the project a reality, Strawbridge has said.

Strawbridge's tenure also saw the completion of the port's more than 75,500-square-foot administration building, which is attached to the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center, on Harbor Drive.

Last year, the port completed its final closeout on a novel voluntary relocation and land acquisition program for the Northside neighborhoods of Hillcrest and Washington-Coles, which were in the path of the new Harbor Bridge. The predominantly Black neighborhoods are part of Refinery Row.

Strawbridge, who helped enact the program when he was chief operations officer, has marked the effort as a first-of-its-kind solution that benefited program participants and "saved" the nearly $1 billion bridge replacement project, which had been halted by a civil rights complaint from Hillcrest residents.

Last year, the Caller-Times interviewed dozens of current and former Hillcrest residents about the outcomes of the port's program. Residents remaining in Hillcrest said the hollowing out of the neighborhood has made living there untenable, pointing to a perceived lack of municipal services to the area and isolation from the city. Those who relocated reported mixed results, citing higher property taxes and a loss of community.

The port's and city of Corpus Christi's respective efforts to establish marine desalination facilities were a source of disagreement between the governmental entities for years. Last summer, when the dispute was the most heated, some city leaders labeled Strawbridge a "rogue executive" prone to making decisions without the explicit knowledge of his bosses — the seven-member board of volunteer appointees chosen by City Council and Nueces and San Patricio counties' commissioners courts.

Last year, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued a wastewater discharge permit for the port's proposed site on Port Aransas' Harbor Island. In January, the Environmental Protection Agency raised objections to how the permit was issued. The Harbor Island site is a contender for the first large-scale marine desalination facility in Texas.

Strawbridge said he was most proud of the executive team he built at the port.

"It's not the building, it's not the channel, it's not even our customers — as important as our customers are to us," Strawbridge said. "It is the fine women and men that make up the Port of Corpus Christi Authority that I get to work with every day.

"We've been underestimated for a long time and may still continue to be underestimated, but I would never underestimate this team," he said. "I would put this team against any in the business."

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Port of Corpus Christi CEO Sean Strawbridge to resign